European shares fall on euro zone debt worries

European shares fell sharply on Monday, giving back some of last week's gains, as worries about the euro zone debt crisis once again took centre stage ahead of debt auctions this week.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of top shares fell 0.9 percent to a provisional close of 1,134.62 points, after rising 2 percent last week.

The heavyweight banking sector, which has exposure to sovereign debt in peripheral euro zone countries, was a major loser. BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA), Banco Santander (SAN.MC), Intesa SanPaolo (ISP.MI), Societe Generale (SOGN.PA) and UniCredit (CRDI.MI) fell between 2.5 and 5.7 percent.

"There's nervousness that bond spreads and default spreads are widening and general nervousness after we had a good run, with a bit of profit-taking," said Mark Bon, fund manager at Canada Life in London.

Read Full Article from Reuters

- Posted: 2011-01-10 11:13:30

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